MKV files problems

[Marco Arrichiello]

Hello. As title says, I have some problems with mkv files on my Android phone.
The file runs fine in Utorrent built-in player, but with no audio.
So, I installed a few of apps to play mkv files, but every app has same problem. The audio works, but video stops and "flash". Every scene become very very bright and stutters.

 

[Ecm]

An mkv file is actually a container for the video, audio files, etc. The audio and video components may not be compatible with your installed apps. Try installing VLC and opening them with that app. VLC has the best range of codecs to handle different audio and video types.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ails?id=org.videolan.vlc&hl=en&token=DoJWYLBb

 

[Marco Arrichiello]

An mkv file is actually a container for the video, audio files, etc. The audio and video components may not be compatible with your installed apps. Try installing VLC and opening them with that app. VLC has the best range of codecs to handle different audio and video types.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...ails?id=org.videolan.vlc&hl=en&token=kuXQHTuE

Yes, thanks, I already tried, and it stutters a lot, like all other apps. Weirdly, with Utorrent, it doesn't stutter but there is no audio.

 

[smvim]

Could you please list the apps you have tried to eliminate repetitive postings?

Apps like VLC and MX Player have the ability to show each media file's integral properties, in this case telling us which video and which audio codec was used could reveal what the problem is.

Or if you could post one of those videos to an anonymous online sharing site that would make it easier to determine what might be going on. SecureShare is a really good file sharing site, it has automatic encryption and everything you upload gets delete after seven days (or less if you specify), but it is limited to 10MB per upload. A more typical option is WeTransfer (file uploads up to 2GB).
SecureShare
https://securesha.re/
WeTransfer
https://wetransfer.com/

 

[Marco Arrichiello]

Could you please list the apps you have tried to eliminate repetitive postings?

Apps like VLC and MX Player have the ability to show each media file's integral properties, in this case telling us which video and which audio codec was used could reveal what the problem is.

Or if you could post one of those videos to an anonymous online sharing site that would make it easier to determine what might be going on. SecureShare is a really good file sharing site, it has automatic encryption and everything you upload gets delete after seven days (or less if you specify), but it is limited to 10MB per upload. A more typical option is WeTransfer (file uploads up to 2GB).
SecureShare
https://securesha.re/
WeTransfer
https://wetransfer.com/

It's huge. 6-7 Gb. Anyway, I tried with vlc, mx, 321 media player.

 

[smvim]

It's huge. 6-7 Gb. Anyway, I tried with vlc, mx, 321 media player.

OK skip posting it online for us ;-)
In MX Player, select the video file and in the top info bar there's an black round icon with a letter 'i' in it. Tap on it and the file's information properties will show in a new window. In VLC, long press on the video file, a contextual menu will pop up, and select 'Information'. Either one will show the which codecs were used for the video stream (i.e. MPEG-4 AVC) and the audio stream (i.e. AAC). What are they?

 

[Marco Arrichiello]

For some reason, it doesn't load infos for that file. I downloaded a smaller version. Still has same problem, and it's again a mkv. Maybe the type mkv of is the problem?
the infos about the new file, are
Video Codec: MPEG-H Part2/HEVC (H.265)
Resolution: 1920x1040
Speed: 29,971

Audio: Codec: A52 Audio (aka AC3)
Language: ita
6 channels
48000 Hz

Audio:
Codec: MPEG ACC Audio
2 channels
44100 Hz

My phone is a Samsung A5 2016, btw.

 

[smvim]

The AAC audio shouldn't be a problem but I'm going to bet your problem it directly tied to the video stream. It's simply overloading your A5's system resources, causing those stuttering issues. It's probably not an issue with h.265, it's just that an h.265 encoded video stream at 1920x1040 resolution is simply too much for your phone. My much older S3 (2012) can play h.265 videos, but they need to be at 720x400 or less resolution to play properly. Suggest you convert your video file down to a lessor resolution -- either stay with h.265 (HEVC) at 1024 or less, or stick with higher resolutions and instead encode with h.264 (AVC) which requires a lot less horsepower than h.265 to view.

If you're looking for a good media file converter, there's probably something in the Play Store but something like a 6GB video file is going to take time and lots of system resources to process. I'd recommend using a computer or laptop instead, if available. If you're also looking for good program to use, take a look at Avidemux, it's free, well supported, and available for Linux, Mac, and Windows:
Avidemux - Main Page

For some reason, it doesn't load infos for that file. I downloaded a smaller version. Still has same problem, and it's again a mkv. Maybe the type mkv of is the problem?
the infos about the new file, are
Video Codec: MPEG-H Part2/HEVC (H.265)
Resolution: 1920x1040
Speed: 29,971

Audio: Codec: A52 Audio (aka AC3)
Language: ita
6 channels
48000 Hz

Audio:
Codec: MPEG ACC Audio
2 channels
44100 Hz

My phone is a Samsung A5 2016, btw.

 

[Marco Arrichiello]

CUT

Thanks mate. I was just to ask a suggestion about how to convert it. I appreciated.

 

[smvim]

Thanks mate. I was just to ask a suggestion about how to convert it. I appreciated.

Just to add, as far as that mkv file your A5 was probably using software decoding for the video stream. If it was instead h.264 than a lot of the system processing would be handed off to hardware decoding. Most computing devices (computers and smartphones) have included h.264 (video) and mp3 (audio) decoding support at a hardware level for years now, so viewing a movie that's h.264/mp3 relies a lot on the integral hardware to do most of the 'heavy lifting' and the software filling in on the rest. Overall it's the least demanding on your phone's system resources (CPU, GPU, audio chip and the OS and app software).
With h.265, it will be a matter where hardware decoding is not involved so all the processing is being done through software. One a side note, one advantage MX Player has over VLC is buried in its Settings there are a lot of different options you can tweak different combinations of hardware (when it exists) and software decoding.
Regarding the use of a program like Avidemux, you'll have a lot of options as far as converting a video file. The least 'friction' for playback on your phone would be if you use h.264 and mp3 (since both have hardware support you can stick with high resolutions and higher bit rates). If you want to stick with h.265 (depending on the content the image improvement can be just some to quite a lot) go with a lower resolution, plus note there will be a noticeable difference in how long it takes to encode a file using h.265 as opposed to h.264. The older your computer the longer it will take.
You might want to cut out ten minutes or so of that mkv file, save it to its own 'test' file, and use that test file to try out different combinations of resolutions, bit rates, codecs, file formats, etc to see what works out best with your phone.